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As the fourth watch of the night approached, the tide rose and the waves rocked the boat violently from side to side, causing loud swooshing sounds to be heard on either side. Some of the men on the boat had woken up from sleep because of the intensity of the waves. Among those awake was Peter.

Any time from now the sun was bound to show a little bit of itself and Peter desired to catch a glimpse of the first glow of sunrise. It would be a great start to the morning. Nevertheless, it was still as black as it could be. He was sitting at one edge of the boat reflecting on the miracle of the day before. What a shocker! 5,000 people fed from almost nothing. And there just happened to be 12 baskets of leftovers. How in the world did that happen? It wasn't something he heard about. He was there when it happened. He even helped to feed the people. What a mighty God they worshiped.

The men had gone ahead of the master on this boat. They'd had no intention of leaving him behind, but it had seemed like he wanted to be alone in the aftermath of the miracle. Peter was sometimes astounded by Jesus. He was so full of surprises and no one ever knew what He was going to do or say next. Sometimes he felt so inadequate. What had he done for Jesus to select him as part of his team?

Just as he thought of Jesus, he spotted something in the distance. Wait a minute, it wasn't something. It was someone. And that someone seemed to be glowing. But that wasn't what bothered Peter, it was the fact that this strange person was floating, no walking, on the raging waves.

With shaky fingers, Peter pointed to the light and shouted, "Phantasma! Phantasma!" (Spirit! Spirit!). Immediately the men gathered themselves at the center of the boat and began to cry out for help, even as the strange person kept walking towards their boat.

It was Peter who recognized him first. "Master!" he screamed. No, it wasn't a spirit. It was Jesus. "It's me. Don't be afraid." He shouted, raising both hands to wave to them. A surge of emotions overcame Peter. All the reflections of the day before came back to him. The power of God. The mighty miracles. The surprises. The goodness of God. A smile broke out on his face as he forgot about the reality of the waves. "Then let me come to you, Yeshua," he shouted.

"Come," Jesus answered.

Immediately, Peter accepted that invitation and jumped out of the boat. He looked upon the face of his friend and there was a smile there. He kept walking. He spread his arms out to feel the rush of the wind. Although it was a short moment, it felt like forever. He kept walking to Jesus until something happened. Just for a second, he took his eyes off Jesus to look at the waves. All of a sudden, he remembered the reality he was faced with. The violent winds. The waves tossing to and fro. The high tide. The darkness of the night. His wobbly feet. The lightness of the water compared to his weight.

"Save me. Save me!" he cried out, as he began to sink. Immediately, there was a hand holding his. "Why did you doubt, Peter?" Jesus asked him. "Why did you doubt?"

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The story above is based on the true historical account of Matthew 14 in the Bible where Jesus extended an invitation to Peter to walk on water. Something amazing happened. Peter actually accepted that invitation, and when he did his eyes were completely focused on Jesus. And oh yes, he experienced an extraordinary moment for a few minutes. He experienced the power of walking with God. He felt a moment of lifted burdens. Nothing else seemed to matter for a while, not even the violent waves.

Don't Take Your Eyes Off Jesus

It was only when Peter took his eyes off Jesus that once again he was pressed down by the reality of the situation. He forgot that if God was with him, there was nothing to worry about. He forgot that the One who made the seas was right there with him. The reality of the situation clouded his judgment. He miscalculated. The truth was that what seemed to be big (the waves) was indeed so much smaller than the power of God.

Will You Accept this Invitation?

I don't know what you are going through today, but whatever it is, God is extending that same invitation to all of us to walk on water. It's an invitation for us to stop allowing impending circumstances to cloud our vision of what a mighty God He is. I'm accepting this invitation. I currently have a lot of tasks I have to do both for the month of November and December, but my focus is on Jesus and I know I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That will be my motto for the rest of the year.

How about you? Will you accept God's invitation to walk on water too? Happy Monday, dear readers. I hope this serves as a great reminder and good start to your week. Walk on water, guys. Walk on water! When we intentionally choose to walk on water, we are saying "yes" to God's reality and "no" to what the circumstance "feels" like. With God, nothing is impossible. We can do the impossible. We can walk on water. Nothing is too difficult for God.As always I'd love to read from you in the comments. What do you say? Is it time for a faith booster? I hope this excites you and increases your faith in what you're believing God for. J.A

Introducing Mr. Tolu Odulesi. Today, I have the priceless opportunity to feature a powerful post by Tolu, an avid reader of the Light a Lamp Blog, a prolific writer, and a child of God. This Blog is blessed to have him on board as a collaborative guest writer, there will certainly be more from him in the future. I believe this post carries a very important message for anyone ready to go on a journey of fulfilling God's purpose in his or her life.

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"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand" - Isa 41:10

God's grace is not meant to make us passive; the grace of God will never let you take on a passive role in your journey of being transformed into Christ likeness. There is an "active" dimension to our relationship with God, whereby we must ACT! There is an intentionality that we must own if we are to become Christ-like.

In the scripture above you are meant to carry out the command "do not fear" or "do not be dismayed." You actively eliminate fear by feasting on God and believing in his goodness and greatness towards you. You do what you have to, to eliminate fear and press on towards the high call of God on your life.

This same dimension was present when God repeatedly told Joshua to be Strong and Courageous. Joshua had to figure out how to be strong and courageous. His fears were not going to just disappear. He had to feast on the word (Josh 1:7-8) and then BELIEVE it.

After believing, when Joshua's fears manifested, he knew they were lies and so he intentionally and actively shut down the voice of the inner critic, the voice of the enemy and all other voices that stood against the words God gave him.

Your choices matter | Be Intentional:

Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD is the one who goes before you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor forsake you - Deut 31:8

We are people of dominion! We must allow the word of God to penetrate deep into our hearts – Prov 4:20-27. We can allow it or block it from penetrating our hearts. We do this by intentionally choosing to read the scriptures, sit in silence and meditate, read books and commentaries, listen to sermons, discuss scriptures with others, etc. These activities must go beyond something on our “to-do-list.” They become our lives, how we live.

In Col 3:15 &16, you see again that God has ordained things to work in a way where we are actively involved in how our lives shape up. How do you “let” the word of God dwell richly in you? By engaging spiritual disciplines and choosing activities that make you present to the Holy Spirit. You craft your days and nights in such a way that you are attentive to God.

How do we “let” the peace of Christ (peace that comes from Christ) rule (act as an umpire) in our hearts?

We do this by trusting in God and holding on to Him – Ps 26:3-4.

We intentionally choose to trusteven when the facts are telling a different story. And we don’t do this once or twice; we continually do this to build our faith.

He has already given us His peace (John 14:27) and in the second part of that verse, we again see the necessity of being active, of taking what God has given to you. Not waiting and expecting peace to find you, but you lay hold on peace because peace is not stillness, peace is found in a person – Christ! You lay hold of peace by believing in His goodness and greatness towards you.

Being Proactive is a Necessity

With a lot of scriptures, I see that being proactive is a necessity. It is required of us – Arise and Shine, Rise up and take possession of the land, etc. Why does God insist that we have to first take a step in faith before possessing what He has promised us? It is so that we mature and become competent humans who are not thrown around by every wind that comes up.

So when the enemy brings about discouragement, stand strong, the One who called you is faithful. I know it can be trying but He will help you and uphold you.

Nothing good, especially transformation into Christlikeness, can happen by chance or by you living unintentionally. We, humans, are created with the greatest capacity to choose and be intentional, yet we are the ones who live life unintentionally the most.

An ant will NEVER wake up and decide it is a lion and decide to sleep all day and hunt in the evening. An antelope will not just wake up and decide he is now a cheetah. Yet this is how we live as humans, as Christians.

Even Jesus had to be intentional about his life. He learnt obedience through the things he suffered. There was an intentionality to his life and we must begin to own our process, our journey, if we will ever become all that He intends us to be.